


Gone courting

by AA_S



Category: The Hobbit (2012), The Hobbit - All Media Types, The Hobbit - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: I like domestic stuff sorry if you don't, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-04-23
Updated: 2013-04-23
Packaged: 2017-12-09 06:58:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 939
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/771348
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AA_S/pseuds/AA_S
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dwalin worries over the state of his courting when Dori continuously invites him for tea. And only tea.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Gone courting

**Author's Note:**

> Someone had posted gifs that contained some of the background conversation that went on in the Hobbit, and one of them had Nori making a joke of Dori over his cooking so I thought I'd roll with it. 
> 
> I also have a soft spot for this ship 'cause of the fact that (at least in book canon) Dori is the strongest out of the company, yet he's such a fussy old guy, it's great.

Dwalin was concerned over the state of his courting. He couldn’t make a judgment if what was going on was good or bad.

Once his intentions of courtship had been made clear to Dori, and he accepted, Dwalin had begun inviting Dori to his home for dinners. He assumed the same sort of reception would be given to him. Instead, he’d gotten invites, over and over, for tea. This wasn’t inherently bad. But after a point Dwalin thought that perhaps Dori hadn’t been all that honest when he’d accepted his courting. These continuous invites to tea, and nothing else but tea, felt as if Dori was trying to keep Dwalin at arm’s length.

And here he was at tea again. He stared into his cup and scowled at the liquid.

“Dwalin, is something the matter?” Dori asked, coming back around to the table with his own cup and saucer. He took a second look at Dwalin, then to his own cup.

“Oh! Did I mix up our cups?” He asked this innocently enough, which only made Dwalin feel more upset about the situation.

“No.” He muttered and put a hand up to his temple, elbow on the edge of the table. His hand blocked his face from Dori.

Dori sat down and huffed at him.

“No really, what is the matter? You’re acting like a child, trying to hide from some rebuff behind your sleeve.”

Dori took a sip from his cup and eyed Dwalin.

“I don’t, I—-“ And Dwalin nearly slammed his hand down on the table. A few inches before he caught himself and laid his palm flat, smoothing the table cloth under it.

Dori looked between worry and annoyance.

“Yes?” Dori prodded, placing his cup and saucer further from him now. He placed it just so, then folded his hands together on the table and twisted slightly to give Dwalin his full attention.

“I—“ Dwalin sighed. But Dori only continued to watch him carefully, trying to puzzle out what seemed to him a sudden flare of emotion.

Dwalin put one hand up defensively and finally looked at Dori.

“Are you really intent on continin’ this courtship, or have yeh just been too polite to tell me to stop?”

Dori’s entire body moved back and he blinked at Dwalin wide-eyed.

“I, well, what is it that I’ve done to make you think otherwise?” He croaked out.

Dwalin looked across the table to the front door. He was quiet for a minute before continuing.

“…..Yeh never have invited me to lunch or dinner. I assumed when I had first done so that the….gesture would be given back. But yeh’ve only ever brought me over for tea. I thought…that perhaps you were tryin’ to tell me to stop?”

Dori’s lip quivered, realization striking him. He took one of Dwalin’s hands swiftly in both his own, now having turned all the way towards the man.

“No! No no no! That isn’t it at all!” He said this quick and almost jumbled the words, retracing once or twice to pronounce one correctly.

Now both of them looked flabbergasted at the other.

“I…” Dori’s voice went out and he cast his eyes to the floor in shame.

“No, it isn’t that Dwalin….I was only…” Dori took a deep breathe.

“I was only..embarassed.” Dori’s lip turned to a thin line. Dwalin was confused but gave the Dwarf a sympathetic smile, stroking his hands with a thumb.

“What about?” He questioned.

“…..I can’t….”

“I can’t cook Dwalin!” Dori looked almost to tears and instinctively Dwalin’s other hand that had still been lying on the table cloth came to clasp firm around Dori’s own. 

“I can’t, I’ve tried and tried….” Dori sounded exasperated.

“Ori can cook beautifully, even Nori can, but for some reason, some reason I can’t put it together no matter how many different ways I’ve attempted to learn it. The only think I can make with precision is…is tea…”

“This is why I hadn’t invited you over for dinner previously…I’ve been trying ever more to learn the trade, but still to no avail…and now, now I nearly drove you away with my failings, oh….”

Dori’s brows were firmly set downward and he wouldn’t look at Dwalin. Dwalin sighed, a happy relived sigh. He leaned forward in his chair and took back his hands to wrap them around Dori’s waist, pulling him onto his lap.

He bumped their foreheads together. “It seems we both worried ourselves over nothin’.” He countered simply to Dori’s blubbering.

“Hhmm? Why, I wouldn’t say it’s nothing myself….”

“I’ve never had such strong black tea that burns my throat like ale.”

“Ooh!” Dori uttered, punching Dwalin as softly as he could in the chest.

“Ow…” Dwalin playfully went along with it and held his fussy Dwarf, who flashed from an annoyed glower to simply leaning against Dwalin’s chest.

Dori didn’t much care for public shows of affection, and felt that affections should be taken in the bedroom or in simple drops throughout the house. Under regular conditions he surely would have forced both of them up (What if the chair couldn’t handle both their weight upon it? He couldn’t get another, it wouldn’t match the set!).

But for now he was drained and happy to have Dwalin for support over such a silly, trifle affair. He knew it was silly; a part of him did very far back in his head. But these silly things, the tea towels and saucers with cups were what he had. He could never be happier to note that no-nonsense Dwalin went along with all of it. 


End file.
